Archive for 'cast' Category
BBC anounces stellar cast for the return of Cranford to BBC One this Christmas
Date: 28.05.2009 Category: TV Drama; BBC One Dame Judi Dench reprises her role as Cranford‘s much cherished Miss Matty Jenkyns on BBC One this Christmas, and heads a cast that boasts some of Britain’s top film, TV and stage talent including Cranford newcomers: Jonathan Pryce, Celia Imrie, Lesley Sharp,Nicholas Le Prevost, Jodie Whittaker, Tom Hiddleston, Michelle Dockery, Matthew McNulty and Rory Kinnear. Made by BBC Drama Production and WGBH [...]
Dame Judi Dench plays Miss Matty Jenkyns
Judi Dench first encountered Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford as a schoolgirl in Yorkshire some, by her own reckoning, “60-odd years ago”. “Recently, a neighbour lent me a copy of it, just like the little red copy that I read at school with a raised oval featuring a portrait of Mrs Gaskell in the corner,” says the [...]
Dame Eileen Atkins plays Miss Deborah Jenkyns
When Cranford producer Sue Birtwistle was casting the actress to play the absolute moral centre of Elizabeth Gaskell’s fictitious 1840s northern town, she turned naturally to Eileen Atkins. “Whenever I get asked to play a part like this, people say it’s because ‘we need someone with authority’,” admits the veteran star whose stage, TV and [...]
Imelda Staunton plays Miss Pole
Just as Miss Pole connects everyone and all their goings-on in Cranford, so too does Imelda Staunton do the same job with its ensemble cast. The Oscar-nominated actress has previously worked alongside most of its more established names. Need a few examples? Here we go…
Julia McKenzie plays Mrs Forrester
Julia Mckenzie was working alongside fellow Cranford star Dame Judi Dench four years ago when the role of impoverished widow Mrs Forrester first appeared on the horizon. “I was doing a play with Judi in the West End, The Royal Family,” Julia recalls. “Sue Birtwistle, the producer of Cranford, came to the first night, took [...]
Francesca Annis plays Lady Ludlow
Perhaps more than any character in Cranford, Lady Ludlow embodies the desire to maintain the old order, but progress is threatening the status quo. “She represents old conservative paternalism,” says Francesca Annis.
Philip Glenister plays Mr Carter
Philip Glenister cheerfully admits that, for him, part of the appeal of Cranford was taking a step back from a certain DCI Gene Hunt. The unashamedly old-school copper in the hit BBC One drama Life On Mars is undoubtedly one of TV’s most memorable creations in recent years, but a change is as good as [...]
Greg Wise plays Sir Charles Maulver
Greg Wise has acted in his fair share of period pieces, including BBC adaptations of Madame Bovary, The Moonstone and The Buccaneers. “There’s something quite wonderful about wearing your big boots, britches, waistcoats and cravats that really sets you in the world that you’re inhabiting very nicely,” he says.
Lisa Dillon plays Miss Mary Smith
Cranford begins with the arrival of Mary Smith at the home of the Jenkyns sisters, fleeing a family crisis in Manchester, and her introduction to the town is also ours, according to Lisa Dillon. “I think in many ways Mary Smith is Elizabeth Gaskell,” says Lisa.
Simon Woods plays Dr Frank Harrison
Dr Frank Harrison is the dashing young newly-qualified physician whose arrival in Cranford causes a stir in more ways than one. “He’s a very good doctor,” says Simon Woods of his character, “but he doesn’t read people well and gets himself into all sorts of terrible scrapes by not understanding what they